Sunday, February 06, 2011

I bought a Nikon DSLR recently, and hence during this long Lunar New Year break, I decided to test it out at a few nature areas.

All photos taken with a 55-300mm lens, without any additional teleconverters or macro conversion lens.

First stop was Bukit Timah Nature Reserves.

The main reason coming here was to get photos of the Malayan Colugo (Cynocephalus variegatus), and as usual, Bukit Timah did not disappoint me :)

The Long-tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were out as well, and I saw some of them feeding on the fruits of a palm tree.

The Syzygium sp. outside the reserve were flowering, attracting lots of pollinators, including this Carpenter bee (Xylocopa confusa).

Next stop was Lower Pierce Boardwalk.

Over here, I finally managed to get photos of the Chestnut-bellied Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus sumatranus)!

This is the only species of malkoha left in Singapore.

Not sure what bird is this, and a little lazy to search my bird book. Thought it looks like some female sunbird though.

A female Common Flameback Woodpecker (Dinopium Javanese).

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) - there were quite a few of them flying around.

This Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica) was happily walking around me just a few metres away, but unfortunately was blocked by vegetation most of the time. This was the only sharp and unblocked shot I had of it, but unfortunately the eyes were closed.

The third stop was Pasir Ris Park. The main objective here was to check out the rare mangrove plant, Kandelia candel, which unfortunately was so badly damaged that I wasn't sure if it would survive.

But since I was there, I got a few photos of the nesting Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea).

The Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Merops philippinus) was way too high up, but I was still glad to at least have a small photo of it.

There was also a Blue-throated Bee-eater (Merops viridis), again too high up for my camera to have a good photo of it.

There were lots of Sea Daisy (Wedelia biflora) climbers in the mangrove area.

And the last stop was Chestnut Avenue at night with James, KS and Ivan.

Pretty Longhorned Beetle (Family Cerambycidae) spotted by KS.

A closer look at the beetle feeding on the Common Yellow Stem-fig (Ficus fistulosa).

A huntsman spider.

A black terrestrial flatworm - they were every where!

Some kind of hopper?

A little praying mantis about 2cm long.

A rather brightly-coloured stick insect.

Huge centipede!

There were lots of barklice on this tree. Update: This should be Clematoscenea sp. Thanks to Marcus Ng for the info! :)

A cranefly.

No idea what beetle is this. haha... Update: This should be a Darkling Beetle (Strongylium sp.). Thanks Marcus Ng for the info! :)